Is Your Job Making You Depressed?

Can’t figure out why you’ve been permanently down in the dumps lately? The latest research suggests your job may be to blame.

One in five workers suffers from a mental illness such as depression or anxiety, says a recent report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development that looked at stats from 10 countries.

Three in four workers who are experiencing depression report that it’s increasingly affecting their productivity at work, the report found. And in addition to that, the amount of job strain that employees are exposed to has increased in the past decade.

The main contributor to that stress and strain: increasing job insecurity. When looking through the data, there is a significant correlation between the rising job insecurity and the mental-health issues these employees are experiencing, says Christopher Prinz, project leader and representative of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. “And what is really surprising about these results is, many of the individuals don’t realize that they need to seek treatment,” say Prinz.

So how exactly do you know if you’re just having an off week at work or if your stress-filled weeks are a more-serious issue? We got in touch with Thomas Joiner, professor of psychology at Florida State University and author of Why People Die by Suicide and Lonely at the Top, to point out the top warning signs men should be looking for.

“When it comes to depression, there are three universal signs,” says Joiner. If you begin to experience even one of these symptoms, it should serve as a warning flag that something is wrong, explains Joiner. If you starts experiencing two or more, you most likely need to seek help from a professional immediately.

Loss of Pleasure. Depression is often easy to spot when the individual displays an extreme shift in mood, or develops a severely apathetic attitude. “The clinical term for this is anhedonia, which is basically described as the inability to experience pleasure,” says Joiner. Some key examples of apathy to look for are: disinterest in your sex life, loss of appetite, uninterested in your usual hobbies, and lack of dedication to your job.

Insomnia. Often when an individual is depressed, their sleeping patterns become greatly affected. You may not be able to achieve a regular night's sleep (insomnia), or you’ll develop hypersomnia (oversleeping), explains Joiner. Insomnia ius typically classified as an individual being able to achieve only 2 to 3 hours of sleep each night.

Thoughts of Death. When you begin expressing morbid thoughts, or begin voicing your concerns about death, this is the most extreme warning sign that you’re depressed, says Joiner. When someone reaches this point in their mental health, it is crucial that he or she get counseling or some sort of treatment immediately, suggests Joiner. Even if it’s only been a one-time encounter, thoughts of death are a clear indication you need to seek outside counseling.

Joiner’s advice? If you catch the signs early—and you haven’t had suicidal thoughts—there isn’t an extreme need to get to a specialist. Small changes in your everyday life (such as reaching out to family and friends and an increase in incorporating more pleasant activities into the day) can make a surprising change over a few weeks. But if nothing changes, it’s time to see a specialist.

Think of it this way: Seeking help can be done too late, Joiner says, but it's hard to do it too early.

Madeline HallerI’m the social media editor for Cosmopolitan.com, as well as a self-proclaimed expert on Internet cats (tough job, but hey, someone has to do it).

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